Spring motor regulator



Oct. 14, 1947. A. zAyERL 2,429,040

SPRING MOTOR REGULATOR v Fil ed March 21, 1944 I l 22 g 2/ a Z kill]!!! 0 E 54 ,5 i: iil

a; '25 A? E Patented Oct. 14, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPRING MOTOR REGULATOR Anthony Zaverl, East Cleveland, Ohio Application March 21, 1944, Serial No. 527,471

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in spring motors of a type adapted for operating toys and for other purposes and the invention has for its primary object to provide control means retarding the working force of the spring whereby to prolong its effectiveness and operation over a relatively long period of time.

More specifically the invention embodies a dash pot mechanism operatively connected with a shaft driven by the spring so as to regulate the rotation of the shaft under the influence of the spring.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of this character by means of which the spring may be wound by one manual rotation of the shaft and the unwinding of the spring will be controlled to produce a slow rotation of the shaft over a, relatively long period of time whereby such slow unwinding action of the spring may be utilized for continuously operating a toy or other device during such unwinding period.

A still further object is to provide an apparatus of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efiicient and reliable in performance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as'more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view with parts shown in section.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on a line 22 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the dashpot and piston working therein.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates a base or support from which a pair of posts or upright members 6 rise, the lower portions of the posts having a shaft '5 journaled therein and the upper ends of the posts having a, shaft 8 journaled therein.

Positioned on the shaft 1 is a double ended coil spring 9 to provide a pair of spring members connected at their adjacent inner ends, as at H],

-with the connected ends of the springs engaged with or bearing against a lug H on the base 5.

Radially extending arms l2 project from the shaft 1 adjacent the outer ends of the springs 9 and to which the ends of the springs bear or are attached. The bearing of the outer end portions of the spring coils 9 against the arms I2 is opposed to the bearing of the middle connecting portion ll) of said coils against the lug ll. So, too, the proportions of the connecting loop I!) are of ample size to permit the crank portion [4 of the shaft 1 to rotate freely and with clearance therein. Stops [3 rise from the base 5 in the path of the arms [2 to limit the shaft .1 to a single rotation in either direction.

A crank 14 is formed at the intermediate portion of the shaft 1 in the region of the connected ends of the springs 9 and a connecting rod I5 has one end pivotally connected to the crank M, the opposite end of the rod 15 having a cage or open frame I 6 rigidly attached to or formed therewith, the cage being formed of parallel sides I! connected at their outer end by a cross member IS.

The connecting rod I5 is formed with an axial bore l9 constituting a guide for a rod 253 slidably mounted in the guide and to the outer end of which is attached one end of a cylinder 2!. The other end of the cylinder is closed by a cap 22 which is connected to the shaft 8 by means of a pair of longitudinally slotted guides 23 and in which the cross member I8 is slidably positioned and guided.

Attached to the cross member I8 is a piston rod 24 slidably inserted through an axial opening in the cap 22 into the cylinder 2| and having a piston 25 attached to the inner end of said piston rod for working in the cylinder.

A passage 26 (see Figure 3) is formed in the piston 25 to provide communication between the opposite ends of the cylinder, the passage 26 having a valve guide 21 therein in which a valve stem 28 is slidably mounted, the lower end of the valve stem having a valve 29 thereon engaging a valve seat 30 at the lower end of the passage 26 to close communication through said passage. The valve is urged in closed position by means of a coil spring 3| moun ed on the up er end of the valve stem. The valve stem as well as the valve is formed with an axial passage 32 extending therethrough to provide restricted free communication through the piston and to permit free escape of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other.

To one end of the shaft I is secured a ratchet 33 and adjacent thereto is a gear 34 free on the shaft, the gear having a pawl 35 engageable with the ratchet to connect the gear to the shaft during an unwinding movement of the spring but permitting free rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction without moving the gear 34.

A reduced gear 36 is secured on a shaft 31 journaled in the base 5 and on which is also secured a larger gear 38 which may be utilized for operating a toy or other mechanism.

To the other end of the shaft 1 is attached a crank handle 39.

In the operation of the device, with the parts and about the time the shaft 1 has made sub stantially a half revolution the piston 25 will be positioned in the lower portion of the cylinder 2! and accordingly the valve 29 will be forced open during the rest of the winding action of the spring and which will result in an upward movement of the piston in the cylinder. The opening of the valve 29 will provide free communication through the piston 25 by way of the passage 26 so that the movement of the piston will be relatively less retarded as the tension of the wound spring increases and offers greater resistance in the continued manual winding thereof. During the winding action of the spring the pawl 35 will slip on the ratchet 33 and the gears 34, 33 and '38 will thus be inactive.

When the spring sections 9 have been Wound and the handle 39 released, the spring 3| for the valve 29 will close the valve and the unwinding action of the spring and consequent rotation of the crank I4 will exert a lowering movement on the piston '25 which is retarded by the restricted or bleed passage 32extending through the valve 29 and valve stem 28. Accordingly the speed of rotation of the shaft 1 under the influence of the spring sections 9 will be regulated and retarded in accordance with the size of the passage 32 and the volume of fluid that is permitted to escape from the lower portion of the cylinder 21 to the upper portion thereof through the piston. This action and control of speed occurs during approximately one-half revolution of the shaft I but on the up-stroke of the piston during the rest of the shaft rotation the valve 29 is opened, thus enlarging the passageway through the piston and offering less resistance to the iiow of fluid therethrough as the tension and force of the partially unwound spring decreases.

During the unwinding action of the spring the pawl 35 will engage the ratchet 33 whereby to connect the gears 34, '36 and 38 to the shaft 1 for the operation of the gears to drive the toy or other mechanism to which the same is connected.

It'is believed the details of construction, operation and advantages of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing without further detailed explanation.

Having thus described the invention what I claim is:

1. A spring motor comprising a rotatable shaft, a spring attached thereto and adapted to rotate the shaft in one direction, said shaft being manually rotatable in the opposite direction to place the spring under tension, said shaft havin a crank, a connecting rod attached to the crank, a cage on the outer end of the connecting rod, a cylinder swingably supported at one end without longitudinal movement and having a longitudinally slidable engagement at "its opposite end with said connecting rod, said cylinder being closed at each end, and a valved piston working in the cylinder and operatively connected to the cage for operation of the piston in accordance with the movement of the connecting rod and functioning retrogressively to retard the rota tion of the shaft.

2. A spring motor comprising a rotatable shaft, 2. spring attached thereto and adapted to rotate the shaft in one direction, said shaft being manually rotatable in the opposite direction to place the spring under tension, said shaft having a crank, a connecting rod attached to the crank, a cage on the outer end of the connecting rod, a guide for supporting the cage for a combined longitudinally slidable and laterally swingable movement together with the attached connecting rod, a cylinder supported by the guide, a valved piston working in the cylinder, and means operatively connecting the piston to the cage for operation of the piston in accordance With the movement of the connecting rod, said piston retrogressively retarding rotation of the shaft.

3. A spring motor comprising a rotatable shaft, a spring attached thereto and adapted to rotate the shaft in one direction, said shaft being manually rotatable in the opposite direction to place the spring under tension, said shaft having a crank, a connecting rod attached to the crank, a cage on the outer end. of the connecting rod, 2. guide for the cage, a pivotal support for the guide, a cylinder closed at each end and attached to the guide, a valved piston working in the cylinder and having a bleed passage extending through the valve to provide free but restricted communication at all times between the opposite ends of the cylinder through the piston, said valve being arranged for opening movement during part of the shaft rotation and upon the corresponding movement of the piston in one direction to provide a less restricted passageway in retardation of movement of the piston and said valve being closed upon movement of the piston in an opposite direction to provide a greater restriction of the piston passageway to cause a further retarded movement of the piston, and means operatively connecting the piston to the cage whereby the piston reciprocates lengthwise of the cylinder during rotation of said shaft in either direction.

ANTHONY ZAVERL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,372,024 Horvath Mar. 22, 1921 2,060,833 Smith Nov. 17, 1936 1,254,060 Mottlau Jan. 22, 1918 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 335,946 France Dec. 22, 1903 393,222 France Oct, 20, 1908 

